


A Collection of Etherian Tales

by ThatGaiaGirl



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble Collection, During Canon, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Multi-Era, Post-Canon, Post-War, Pre-Canon, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24415552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGaiaGirl/pseuds/ThatGaiaGirl
Summary: Just a collection of drabbles from all over the She-Ra canon, because after that finale I have f e e l i n g s. Expect mainly Entrapdak and Catradora, also if you haven't already PLEASE go watch Season 5 it is SO GOOD.Most of this will be canon compliant, but I may have a few AU concepts in here.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 71





	1. Old Boss

Relaxation was a luxury Adora and Catra almost forgot about. Confessing your love in a desperate attempt to save your childhood friend, then kissing her to save the world and murder a mind-controlling space demon managed to wipe out the idea of just... chilling. But now that'd happened, and they finally had some free time. They could've spent it however; sparring off the adrenaline from what'd happened weeks before, explore their relationship, go help Glimmer and Bow with whatever they were doing.

Instead, they were sitting here, staring at their old boss.

Entrapta insisted on keeping him around, since he was useful in helping her examine Prime's tech. He'd reverted to his old appearance almost instantly. His eyes faded back to red in two days, and Entrapta used that time to procure hair dye and design a new set of armour. His clone uniform had mysteriously disappeared after the victory bonfire, and he was back to his usual black dress, sans Horde logo of course. The most dire change, however, is what'd caught Adora's attention.

"Hordak has a baby face!" she chuckled, leaning into her girlfriend. Catra's laugh didn't help her to recover in the slightest. Before she left the Horde, Hordak almost looked like a 50 year old Etherian. The dark bags and dire face made for an intimidating presence. The blackness around his eyes was still there, to a lesser extent. "Was he-" she wheezed, causing Catra's giggles to double, "Was he wearing makeup to look older?!"

" _Was?_ " Catra chuckled, 'Look at him! He still is!"

Their laughter continued, the concept of a baby-faced evil overlord sending them into a humorous daze. Catra looked over to him, elbowing Adora. She'd gained the habit of basing her assumptions about his hearing abilities on her own during her time in the Hoarde, and hadn't been wrong yet. She hoped she wasn't wrong. If Hordak heard them...

"Oh my god, just look at them."

Hordak and Entrapta were working in perfect tandem. They didn't even need to ask the other for assistance, a simple gesture was enough to signal what tool they needed. Hex-sided screwdrivers and bolts were passed so quickly it almost looked like they were juggling.

All of this would've been perfectly normal if Entrapta wasn't on Hordak's back.

She'd wrapped her legs around his midsection, hooking her feet together for a secure hold. One arm was wrapped under his shoulder as the other frantically gestured, too fast for even Catra to make out. Her head was rested comfortably on his shoulder. As for Hordak, the extra weight proved no problem for his armour, and even a blind woman could see he was suppressing a smile the whole time.

Adora shook her head at them, a nice cocktail of confusion and surprise in her eyes. "I... never thought i'd be seeing this. I mean, come _on_. Hordak? and a Princess? If you'd have told me this a week ago, I wouldn't believe you."

Catra broke out into _that_ laugh. The really high-pitched cute one, where she snorted. It took a concerted amount of effort for Adora to stop herself from melting. "Oh, this has been going on for way longer, Adora."

She felt the blood leave her face. "Wait, what?! They were like this in the Horde?!!"

Catra chuckled again, tail curling around Adora's arm. "Oh yeah. Let me tell you, Hordak had it _bad_."

She scooted closer, propping her head on Adora's shoulder. "She snuck into Hordak's sanctum to steal one of his tools. When I arrived to try and apologise for her, Hordak got angry at ME for interrupting them, saying she'd started working on his tech with him!"

"Oh," Adora muttered, face aghast. _Nobody_ snuck into Hordak's sanctum unpunished. "No."

Catra's ears flicked in amusement. "Mmhm. Oh, and one time I went to report to Hordak about our progress, and Entrapta was just... there. Working. When I was dismissed, I looked back and saw her sitting on the arm of his throne talking to him." Catra smiled. "Even Imp liked her!"

Adora was shaking her head in silent disbelief. Hordak staying here she could accept, he'd proven that he changed after that ordeal with Prime. But imagining the old Hordak, head over heels for Entrapta? It was too weird.

Catra's eyes widened as she remembered something else. "The armour. Oh god, it got _so_ much worse after she made him that armour."

"I really don't wanna know," Adora whined, eyes closed in stubborn disbelief.

It wasn't long before she felt Catra's tail against her face. "Hey, Adora~"

She opened her eyes to an extremely smug Catra. "You should try reading Hordak's crystal."

Her eyes widened, and she gave Catra a playful shove. "Oh, buzz off, it's none of my business!"

Again, that laugh. Adora rolled her eyes, 'reluctantly' letting her girlfriend snuggle up to her again. It wasn't long before a soft purring caught her ears.

"Okay, so he's definitely in love with Entrapta." she conceded. "But he's not as bad as you."

It was her turn to laugh as Catra blushed, tail thwipping in surprise. "Shut up," she mumbled, ears pinned back in embarassment.

Adora pretended to consider it. "Nah," she decided, "I like you like this anyway."

Catra smiled. It didn't take long for the purring to pick back up again.


	2. Defect

Sometimes Hordak wondered if Etheria was as much of a curse as it first seemed.

It was vivid; the feeling of the chip frying in the back of his neck, Prime’s consciousness severed from him within seconds. It was almost too much to bear. His defect stranded him, and now he lost his only remaining connection to the one who made him.

It was not something he would ever be willing to admit, later in life. But the complete isolation, stranded on a backwater planet without the voice of his brothers to guide him... he broke down on more than one occasion.

Those days were behind him now. Leader of the Etherian Horde, a formidable presence among his soldiers. Something to make Prime reconsider. Something that, if perfected, could earn him the kernel of affection he so desperately craved.

The sickly green glow of the vitrines illuminated his sanctum. The green glow that he could never possess without Prime.

His defect had finally shown face through his hair, darkening from the holy white it was meant to be, a shadow devouring what purity he had. It didn’t take long for his degraded body to reveal itself after that. To that end, his eyes turned red by his own hand. Leading the Horde, he found a strange... fascination with individuality. The dull red glow of his eyes against blackened skin felt _better_ than what Prime had given.

His soldiers has asked for a name, and he gave them Hordak. It was keeping in line with Etherian customs, blending in. Until he started to call himself that. Never out loud, of course, but despite his better judgement... he thought of himself as Hordak now.

Perhaps he was going native.

The half-formed attempts to save his pitiful form floated in the liquid calmly. He sighed, ears twinging with shame. More failures. As he moved along the line, however, one clone caught his eye. Fully formed, unlike the others, though still stuck as something akin to an Etherian child of 4. Wings and a tail Hordak lacked, with a shock of white hair Hordak had once wanted. The data showed a serious defect in the vocal cords, rendering it unable to do anything but screech.

It wasn’t much, but it was the only viable specimen he had.

It remained curled in on itself after its removal. Hordak doubted if it had survived, preparing to dissect it. As he moved away, however, the clone's eyes opened carefully. Green, like his used to be. It yawned, stretching itself out. It shook it's head, ears flexing as it looked around. It gave a questioning chirrup as it's eyes lay on Hordak. He should leave it; it's a defective clone of a defective clone, entirely unuseful. Prime would dispose of it immediately.

It flexed its wings, eyes still fixed on Hordak. Another chirrup. A low sound rose from his throat, not a growl, but a confirmation. The clone flexed its ears. Hordak's ears mirrored it.

It landed on his arm with a small leap, now happily smiling up at him. If it noticed Hordak's hesitation to touch it, it didn't show. His other hand began scratching at its chin, causing it to chirp contently. It leaned into the affection, small claws gripping the edge of his gauntlet.

Despite himself, Hordak smiled.

***

"How is the implant? Is it effective?"

The clone frowned, opening his mouth. "Effective," he parroted, the recording of Hordak's voice playing back to him. He smiled. "Good."

The clone nestled into his shoulder, happy squawks emitting from him as Hordak scratched his ears. "Lord Hordak?" came a voice. His ears flicked back. One of his Force Captains. The clone noticed, giving an inquisitive hiss. "A Force Captain," he muttered, "don't worry."

Hordak turned, emerging from the shadows to confront whoever disturbed him. The Force Captain saw the clone and shrieked, jumping backwards. "AN IMP!"

He frowned at her, raising a hand to comfort the now distressed clone. The Force Captain gulped upon seeing his face. "I-i'm sorry, Lord Hordak, I-"

"I do not need your chattering." he snapped. "The creature does not concern you. Now, what have you come here to tell me."

"The, uh- we've captured the rebels who attempted to reclaim the Black Garnet, sir. Defences are being constructed to prevent this from happening again."

"Good."

The Force Captain faltered, then left, her steps decidedly faster than normal. The clone, startled by the Captain's shout, had calmed, and now looked at Hordak inquisitively.

"What is it," he hissed. The clone opened his mouth, replaying the shout. "IMP!"

From what Hordak knew, an Imp was a creature of Etherian myth, a type of devil known for causing mischief and terror. He'd dismissed it as old stories, designed to scare children into obeying their parents. He didn't know that his soldiers still believed the myths. He certainly didn't know why his clone was repeating it now.

"IMP!"

His ears flicked back in comprehension. "You wish to be called that?"

The clone nodded, chirping. Well, if Hordak had a name, he saw no reason to deny this luxury to his creation.

"Very well," he said. Imp smiled, chittering happily as he leapt onto Hordak's throne.

Seeing Imp happy had the unfortunate side-effect of causing him to smile. Perhaps his defect was more serious than he thought.

***

His brothers stared at him, like always. The first clone to break away from the ideals of Prime, the first to take a name, the first to dye his hair and shift his eyes. Hordak was an enigma to them; he'd already become so detached from Prime, and his threatening of Entrapta was what tore it.

They stared at his black dress, his armour. They were bewildered by his dark hair and red eyes. They were downright confused at Entrapta. Still, Hordak took it upon himself to help them re-adjust. He still remembered being severed from Prime for the first time, and he was determined to prevent them from falling as hard as he did.

A tiny chirrup caught his attention. Coming from the shadows, a nearby tree. He knew that chirrup. He released a low chirp of his own, answering the shy question. Imp flew into his arms without hesitation, claws catching his dress in a death grip. "Imp," Hordak sighed, smiling. Imp curled up in Hordak's arms, eyes wide and worried. He opened his mouth, releasing on old conversation.

"-all gone! Prime's controlling them, even Hordak!"

He felt his ears twinge down in sympathy. "I'm alright, Imp. That will never happen again."

Imp's tail swished in concern, still stubbornly attached to Hordak's dress. He began to scratch at Imp's chin, calming him. He leant into Hordak's affection easily.

"...Is that a clone, brother?"

He turned. Of course the others would see this interaction. "He is my clone," Hordak said, "and he goes by Imp."

Imp looked up, chittering inquisitively at his brothers. They were equally inquisitive, moving towards him. "But... he is defective," said another.

Hordak looked at Imp, and smiled. "So am I."


	3. Purring

Noise had become a bit of a problem around Brightmoon.

It was mainly the clones. With two, one of which stayed in a sultry silence unless prompted, it didn't seem like an issue. Unfortunately, Glimmer failed to realise that all of the newly freed clones _wouldn't_ take after Hordak. She, Bow and Adora probably had to deal with at least 10 existential crisis in the hour that followed Horde Prime's destruction. Catra was too busy laughing at them to help, and Entrapta was focused only on Hordak. Wrong Hordak's well-meaning attempts at assistance didn't work in the slightest.

Double Trouble had stepped in to 'help', which mainly consisted of constant makeovers and prompting more crisis among them. The sheer chaos of it all would almost be funny if it wasn't so damn tiring. Queen Glimmer was on her last threads of sanity, and Bow was forced to secure his bow using specialised tech after three seperate incidents involving clones setting off arrows. Adora looked like she was about to pass out, and Catra? She was enjoying all of it with a smug look on her face.

Which is probably why her purring was extra annoying today.

Wrong Hordak, who’d now dubbed himself Krytis, was guiding one of his brothers to a seperate chamber. This particular clone has entered the ‘constantly on the verge of sobbing’ phase.

Bow let out an excruciatingly long sigh of relief, his arrows safe once again. His moment of joy was cut off, however, by a loud _purrr_.

Catra was sitting on Adora’s lap, giggling at her girlfriend’s sheer lack of fucks. Her purring came through loud and clear, echoing around the Brightmoon halls. “Catra,” he began, as politely as he could, “could you please _not_.”

She frowned at him as Adora poked her cheek. “You’re purring, silly.” Catra’s ears pinned back in embarrassment as blushed, breaking eye-contact with Bow immediately.

”Well, uh- so what if I am? I’m allowed to be happy, right?”

She straightened her posture slightly. “Purring is a natural process that I have no control over! Besides, couldn’t you go talk to your girlfriend or geek out with Entrapta?”

Bow pinched his forehead in an attempt to keep whatever cool he had left. “Glimmer is training, and Hordak and Entrapta wont be back from Beast Island till tonight.”

He decided, executively, that taking a small break from Brightmoon was in his best interests right now. Adora and Catra stared at him as he left. Catra groaned, a strange kind of anguish emitting from her.

”I can’t be the _only_ embarrassing person here!"

***  
  


Catra had taken to pacing when she couldn’t sleep. Adora didn’t mind, just as long as she didn’t disturb anyone. She was far too quite to do that, though.

The science couple had returned from their jaunt to Beast Island sooner than expected. In fact, Hordak had both suggested and agreed to cleaning up Beast Island with Entrapta, disabled the signal that warped the minds of it’s inhabitants, harvested a bunch of First One’s tech and made the island habitable in just over three months.

Given that Hordak had convinced a throng of his brothers to help with the Salineas reconstruction, it’d probably be done by the end of the week.

She slunk down the darkened hallways quietly, lamp-like eyes illuminating the congealed shadows. Catra froze, her ears flicking as she heard it: purring, coming from an unlocked door at the end of the hall. Curiosity spiking, she inched towards it, only to realise it wasn’t purring. Chirping, almost like an eclectic bird’s song fused with a mouse’s panicked squeaks.

Her heart warmed at the memory; as cadets, she and Adora had found an injured bat in the fright zone. Catra graciously donated her blanket as they nursed it back to health. She still remembered the tiny chitters that emerged from it as Adora pet it, not unlike her own purring.

Well, that settled that. Brightmoon had a bat infestation, and Catra could not _wait_ until the princesses discovered it in the morning.

***  
  


A strand of purple hair fiddled with the door knob, successfully locking it. "Brightmoon is weird," Entrapta mused.

She missed Dryl. She missed the winding hallways of the Crypto Castle, all the projects she left behind for Beast Island. At least she'd reclaimed the bots she'd left there! Not only that, but enough First One's tech to last a lifetime. Entrapta could barely contain her giddiness at it all.

Right now, though, wasn't really a time for that. The Island took it's toll, and they both needed rest. Which is why she'd dedicated the majority of her hair to wrapping around Hordak comfortingly. They'd return to Dryl soon enough, and continue to tinker and experiment. _Together_.

So _that_ was what she was missing. She made a mental note of it.

Hordak's armour lay on Entrapta's makeshift workbench on the other side of the room. A few minor repairs, nothing devastating or life-threatening. Always good, as Hordak dying was the least favourable outcome, in her opinion. He usually got cagey when his armour was off, insisting whatever guards were near to leave him alone (they trusted Entrapta enough to do so). He never acted different with her, though. That was enough to let her know; he trusted her, and she’d never felt happier about it.

They were curled up on the bed, Entrapta’s hair being used as a makeshift blanket. She was gently playing with Hordak’s ears, smiling as he slowly melted into her. From his chest came a soft chirruping, not dissimilar to Catra’s purring. His chirps, she’d learnt, had a deeper meaning than just to express pleasure. Beast Island was a great source of study for her.

They were also a sort of plea: a plea for her to continue, to stay with him. A plea that, all things considered, was easy to answer.

She carefully detangled a clump of hair from Hordak, using it to grab an actual blanket as she yawned. He’d keep her company for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m probably gonna do a longer fic about Beast Island soon, if anyone’s interested in that.
> 
> Fun fact: Cat purring is not just a sign of happiness - it can also be a form of asking for something (kittens purr to get their mother’s attention), or self-soothing/stress relieving. Basically, expect more angsty purring drabbles
> 
> Reference for Hordak’s chirping: https://youtu.be/WVz8rvIl_vY


End file.
